


All This Time

by piscean_stories



Series: The Universe Responds [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hallucinations, Heat Stroke, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post VLD S6, Post-Canon, desert shack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 15:01:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15294033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piscean_stories/pseuds/piscean_stories
Summary: It's been three years since Voltron has retired, the universe has settled into alignment. But when Soulmates are broken, one must remain and the other must join the stars.Keith has joined the stars and the desert does awful things to Shiro's mentality.





	All This Time

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is a little something I thought of writing! So, kind of a Soulmate AU? But anyways, This is post S6 and when they return to Earth. However, Keith has died in battle, but Shiro still remains and suffers through Hallucinations of his dead lover. 
> 
> Trigger warnings for Major Character Death(s)! (;

This and every other life, the flowers would always bloom in the desert. The crippling heat, and the anxious rain made it seem like everything was okay, but really, when was it? How had this doubt of cloud, swarm his ever lasting train of thought? When had he been this lonely? These questions plagued his mind like a disease. He was lonely, and he was scared.

The massacre of his emotions through a deadly war, of his own mind, left him walking on glass. He just wanted a peace of mind.

"Keith," His name brought him back to a time, where things weren't so simple, perhaps they'll never be. Below him, Shiro stood, expecting eyes deserving of answers to his behavior. Keith shrugged, eyes moving back up to the descending sun. "Keith, _please_ ," Shiro tried again. He was never vocal to begin with, but he just.. couldn't find a reason for his own voice to be heard.

"Please go away.." Keith's voice was a silent plea, a discreet lie hidden in what he actually want. _Please don't go_.

"Keith, that's not happening," Shiro muttered. Keith sighed, keeping a silent glare on the sunset. Why did the sun have to go? It was a physical reminder that maybe things would okay as long as he could see the rays illuminating the desert.

"Shiro.. Please.. I don't want-.." Keith struggled to find his words. Why had they ran from him? He couldn't explain this phantom pain sending daggers through his heart. Why was he so upset?

"Don't want what Keith? Keith- It's been _three_ years since you've finally spoken to me.. Please.." Shiro whispered softly, a hitch in his tone could be heard as he suffered from the anguish and guilt of the silent years apart.

"And whose fault is that?" Keith sneered, finally turning his attention to Shiro, a sharp reprimanding glare marring his features. Shiro sighed, sucking in a shaky breath.

"Keith, we both know that isn't fair, please just _talk_ to me!" Shiro snapped. Keith flinched, closing his eyes painfully. Shiro regretted his tone, his whole world crumbling into a painful realization.

His figure was slow, but it was gone, like the desert had promised, a hallucination had played his thoughts like the rain did the sand. Where had they gone wrong? Like the fractures and breaks between the splinters of wood that held the small wooden shack together, he was falling apart. This war had torn a love into two, breaking a bond only the universe could mend. With fragmented breaths, Shiro stumbled his way back inside. How had he been so blind? Keith had passed, in the heat of the battle, he had given his life up for him. Shiro hadn't been the same since. How many days had passed? One thousand, ninety-five days to count the grains of sand on his porch.The sun had long retired and the stars hung like orbs of light in the sky, illuminating the holy king of the sky, the moon. Shiro had settled on the front step of the small shack, eyes trained on the sky.

"When have you gotten so lonely?" Keith asked quietly. Shiro was startled, turning to look over at his deceased lover, his eyes had gone from a brilliant shade of indigo, to a pale slate hue.

"Why- _Keith_.. What are you doing here?" Shiro croaked. His voice had been used and spent, beyond exhausted for the screams and cries that echoed over canyons couldn't compete with the pain he felt inside. Keith snorted slightly.

"I came to see you, duh," Keith smiled. He never smiled. Shiro closed his eyes, just yearning for just this once, for the universe to stop. This was getting to be a painful schedule he was still adjusting to, and for each day that passed, the harder it was to face that it was this reality.

When he opened his eyes once more, Keith was gone. Just as he should have expected. The desert did awful things to people that didn't deserve it. It was dry, merciless, and unforgiving. Just as it was with him, it made him suffer and crumble under the heat that killed many flora. How had one survived here with the illusion that there was water in the cracks, hidden under the layers of sediment?

Shiro lost track of time, losing focus on the sight in front of him. He had fallen victim to the heat the suffocated his mind with a drought that couldn't be cured. Shiro was losing this war of content and happiness. How had he survived for so long in a wasted landscape, only meant to ruin the ones who ruined it?

Shuffling himself inside of the shack, he collapsed on the cot against the wall. The ragged rug that bleakly hugged the floor was wrinkled and distraught. The frames that held once happy memories hung with a lifeline to never let go of that time. When things were simple and realistic. One particular photo held his heart in a death choke, begging for mercy as the pain ravaged the organ. It was a memory of him and Keith, and Keith's first day at the Garrison. He looked so shy, a benevolent smile gracing his lips, and the timid blush on his cheeks made him all the worth while of that picture. Shiro couldn't find a more perfect picture of the one he loved.

The one that _was_ loved.

The one that was gone.

Keith would forever be missing from this universe, but never from Shiro's heart. The essence from Keith's lingering kiss as he passed away in Shiro's arms would forever haunt him in the day and night. He had sustained catastrophic wounds, and the sobs that left him in agony of the realization; he would be leaving Shiro behind, _destroyed_ him. Shiro was just all the more damaged. He had whispered and sung lullabies until Keith was fully asleep and well on his way to the stars. He would be okay now, and Shiro was sure of that. But the loneliness and the pain that echoed within didn't ease the agony.

"Shiro, you've finally made it!" The cheerful grin that was plastered on Keith's face had him shivering. What? What was he talking about.

"What? Keith, I love you, but please _stop_ doing this to me!" Shiro begged, the tears gathering in his eyes. Keith shook his, pointing down at the sight below.

"No, look! You've passed!" Keith repeated. And he was right. Shiro stared with a shock that sent a tremor through him. There, his body lay on the cot, his face an unhealthily pale shade of white. He was with him now. He was with Keith. He gasped, turning to face Keith, surprised to see him still there.

"H-how?.." Shiro asked quietly.

"The heat, and well.. Lack of eating and drinking.. Shiro, I'm really sorry to have made you suffer.. But I was waiting for _you_.. All this time.." Keith murmured quietly. Shiro choked on the tears were racing down his cheeks.

"Keith.. Oh god Keith.." And finally, they collapsed into one another. A star of their own, colliding into a stellar collision. They were one once more, and they would never be apart.

"It's good to have you back, Shiro.." Keith smiled through teary eyes. Shiro smiled weakly, leaning down to capture his lips in a chaste kiss. A movement of natural phenomenon as the planets aligned, and the stars were casting an everlasting glow for them.

"It's good to be back," Shiro whispered with a content hush. Keith closed his eyes, and Shiro followed, as they became two of the brightest stars in the sky,

Just this once, the universe finally sends it love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Come find me on [Tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/an1m3ru1n3dmyl1f3)


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